Our Team

Stephen J. Kaufman founded Kaufman Legal Group in 1996. A recognized authority in the field of campaign finance and election law, Mr. Kaufman represents elected officials, candidates, PACs, labor unions, corporations, non-profit organizations, ballot measure campaigns, political parties, major donors, lobbying firms and government agencies on a wide variety of campaign finance, election and governmental ethics matters.

Mr. Kaufman is an expert on voting systems and election procedures. He was a recount attorney for the Gore-Lieberman campaign in Florida following the 2000 Presidential election, and in 2001, he was appointed Chief Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Caucus Special Committee on Election Reform. He currently serves as Chair of the State Voting Modernization Board, and previously served on the City of Los Angeles Municipal Elections Reform Commission.

Mr. Kaufman is a former President of the California Political Attorneys Association, and has served on a number of non-profit Boards, including the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles Education Fund, the Southern California Leadership Network, the UCLA Alumni Governmental Relations Advocacy Committee, and the Labor 411 Foundation.

Mr. Kaufman obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from UCLA in 1984, and received his law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco in 1987. Prior to entering private practice, he worked as a judicial extern for the Honorable Terry J. Hatter of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

A frequent author and speaker on campaign reform and election issues, Mr. Kaufman appears regularly in the local media and serves as a lecturer and panelist before numerous public and private organizations. He was selected by California Law Business magazine in 2001 as one of California's top 20 attorneys under age 40, and is a past recipient of the California State Bar's Wiley W. Manuel Award for his commitment to pro bono legal services. Mr. Kaufman was named by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the 500 most influential people in Los Angeles in 2016 and 2017.